Google Chrome browser available to download; Install feedback

Google's Chrome browser is now available for download. The Chrome site now has details of the browser's functionality, including video interviews with the development team and video demos of each major feature. However this first beta release is only available for Windows XP and Vista; Mac and Linux owners will have to wait.

First impressions of the Google Chrome browser after the cut

On first install, Chrome asks to import settings from your current browser including favorites, cookies and search engine preferences. The install itself is fast and doesn't require a system reboot. With two Chrome tabs open (the introduction pages) there are four mentions of the chrome.exe process in Task Manager, altogether using 51,968K.

Vincent's first impressions of Chrome:

1. Super faaaaaaaast!

2. 78/100 on Acid3 Test

3. Tabs work great

4. Bookmarks are easy to maintain and move around

5. Gears is installed by default - works great with WordPress and WYSIWYG

6. Haven't seen a site that doesn't render correctly -- even those heavy in Ajax

7. Flash sites run well

8. Works with VMWare for OSX with Windows XP (see video below)

9. Silverlight not yet compatible

We'll be testing out Chrome and putting together our first impressions over the next few hours. Remember, this is early beta software, so you probably don't want to be putting all your eggs in a Chrome basket and relying on it for sensitive tasks such as internet banking; it will take a little time before the first security reports come in.